Ian Healy criticises Australia for playing two off-spinners in Nagpur Test

Murphy has picked up 4 wickets so far [Associated Press]

Former wicketkeeper-batter Ian Healy has come down hard on Australia for fielding two off-spinners - Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy - in the ongoing first Test against India at Nagpur.

Australia, who are eying to re-claim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, handed Murphy a Test debut on Day 1, which eventually ended up paying a rich dividend by end of the play.

Speaking to SEN Radio, Healy said that the Australian attack lacked variety and that Ashton Agar and Mitch Swepson should have played. 

Murphy provided Australia with their first breakthrough by getting the better of KL Rahul, after the visitors folded for 177 runs in just over three sessions on the first day itself. 

Here's what Healy said

"In my eyes, probably not the right selection call. I think he (Murphy) can bowl extremely well and he's right in the shadow of Nathan Lyon for whenever he's needed, but for me, we've left on the bench our most experienced spinners in Ashton Agar and Mitch Swepson.

"If we're not going to use them yesterday (Thursday), they might as well pack their Baggy Greens away. I think we needed more variety and more experience,"

Healy further urged Australia's team selection to have more variety in their spin bowling attack moving ahead.

So far, on Day 2, Australia's plan to play Murphy has worked, with the debutant picking up wickets of Ravichandran Ashwin and Cheteshwar Pujara, and Virat Kohli.

As of writing, heading into Tea, India are 226 for 5, leading Australia by 49 runs, with Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja batting in the middle.

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